Today in Technology History
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October 28
Bill Gates is not just the world's richest man, but he's also probably the world's most famous optimist when it comes to technology. But even Gates -- who was born on October 28, 1955 -- admits that advances in technology can affect society in worrisome ways. Here's an excerpt from his 1995 book, The Road Ahead:
"Just because I'm optimistic doesn't mean I don't have concerns about what is going to happen to all of us. As with all major changes the benefits of the information society will carry costs. There will be dislocations in some business sectors that will create a need for worker retraining. The availability of virtually free communications and computing will alter the relationships of nations, and of socioeconomic groups within nations. The power and versatility of digital technology will raise new concerns about individual privacy, commercial confidentiality, and national security.
"There are, moreover, equity issues that will have to be addressed. The information society should serve all of its citizens, not only the technically sophisticated and economically privileged.
"In short, a range of important issues confronts us. I don't necessarily have the solutions, but, as I started off the book saying, now is a good time for a broad discussion. Technological progress will force all of society to confront tough new problems, only some of which we can foresee. The pace of technological change is so fast that sometimes it seems the world will be completely different from one day to the next. It won't. But we should be prepared for change. Societies are going to be asked to make hard choices in such areas as universal availability [of technology], investment in education, regulation, and the balance between individual privacy and community security.
"While it is important that we start thinking about the future, we should guard against the impulse to take hasty action. We can ask only the most general kinds of questions today, so it doesn't make sense to come up with detailed, specific regulations. We've got a good number of years to observe the course of the coming revolution, and we should use that time to make intelligent rather than reflexive decisions."
Related links:
Click here for Bill Gates's homepage.
Click here to read a biography of Bill Gates.
Click here, here and here to read about how much money Bill Gates has.
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